This is a heavily built Elsie made in 1947 and it has the “flat, straight sided beavertail” described in Houchins’ book on page 422. The most popular beavertail on the L.C. Smith was the Schnabel type, which to my eyes was never very graceful. I have seen very few L.C. Smiths with this much more graceful and elegant beavertail. It is a rather rare feature. This gun weighs in at 8lbs. 3oz. and with the 30” barrels and balances ½” forward of the hinge pin. This would make an extraordinary sporting clays/trap gun, and would be bad medicine for waterfowl, turkey, blocking for pheasants, or any other sport where long walks were not in the mix. The weight of this gun will greatly reduce felt recoil, and the slight forward weight will keep the long barrels swinging after the shot for good follow through. In the world of Sporting Clays or Trap, where lots of ammo is being devoured, reducing recoil is very desirable. In addition, this gun is in near new condition.

The barrels retain 98% factory blue, choked M/F (.021/.037 from the factory), mirror bores, 2 ¾” chambers with lengthened forcing cones, internal bore diameter of .729 (factory spec), minimum barrel wall thickness of 31 thousandths, minor handling marks on barrels but no rust, pits, or major marks, single silver bead, ejectors that are strong and timed, barrels tight on breech face and hinge pin, ribs are tight and barrels ring, lettering clear and crisp, just a great set of barrels.

The action retains 90% of its factory case colors, tight on face with lever centered, excellent screws, clear sharp engraving, Hunter One Trigger that is crisp and functioning to perfection, 50% trigger guard blue, featherweight frame, all in excellent working order.

The capped pistol grip stock is nicely figured both sides. This is a very beautiful gun with the checkering still clear, finish still all there, LOP of 14 3/8” to the end of a Hawkins pad (would be 15 3/8” from the front trigger of a double trigger gun), 2 5/8” drop at heel, 1 9/16” drop at heel for excellent shooting dimensions (stock can be bent to your specs for $140), no cracks or splits anywhere. The “flat, straight sided beavertail” is well figured with a very nice checkering pattern, is graceful and fills your hand nicely. THE HAWKINS PAD THAT IS SEEN IN THE PHOTOS IS A DEFECTIVE PAD. BY THE TIME THE GUN IS PURCHASED, I WILL HAVE PROPERLY FIT A NEW, NON-DEFECTIVE HAWKINS PAD TO THE GUN AS PART OF THE COST.

This is not the run-of-the-mill Ideal Grade 12ga. The condition is outstanding, the configuration and options are rare to see, and it is set up perfectly as a clays gun or heavy 12ga. hunting gun. It is a fine investment quality firearm that will be worth more in a year than it is today, as long as it is cared for properly.

I have more photos upon request. There is a 30 day mechanical warranty on this gun. PLEASE SEE MY OTHER FINE VINTAGE FIREARMS ON THIS WEBSITE. Just click on the line that says “see all items from this seller” and a nice list will pop up. Thanks for looking.

LET ME SELL YOUR GUNS!!! As you can see, I do a thorough job, am nationally known, and have hundreds of existing customers looking for your gun! Federally licensed dealer of Classic American Doubles, i.e. Fox, Parker, Ithaca, L.C. Smith, Lefever. Guns must be shipped to licensed dealer. Layaways accepted. No returns on layaways. I BUY SHOTGUNS, COLLECTIONS OR ONE AT A TIME.